The best first date bars in Sydney

Sit close, grab a drink and get to know each other

No one is saying first dates are easy – there’s the reasonable fear you might insult them, bore them or that they may turn out to be secret racists. And it’s worse still if you think you might like them – so many expectations to manage. Do yourself a favour and pick a location where the cocktails are excellent, the food is good and the service is outstanding. And bonus points for any extra bells and whistles, be it great views, drag shows, show stopping drinks or stand out locations. That way if it's a great date, you can two can always re-visit the venue fondly, and if it doesn't go so well, then at least everything else was good.

Did you also know that in addition to excellent drinks, these guys also make their own line of sodas, including a smoked lemonade that they make by putting a tray of ice cubes in the smoker at LP’s Quality Meats? This is a fun fact to impress your date with when you take them to this monochrome bar tucked down a laneway off King Street.

This walk-in wine bar is all about interesting vinos curated by sommelier Julien Dromgool and tasty snacks by Ester's Matt Lindsay. It's as good as his five star Chippo resto, but a bit more casual, making it excellent date night territory.

There are more than half a dozen wines by-the-bottle for under $60 at this all-class European-inflected wine bar on Llankelly Place, so you can work your way through a bottle or two along with some buffalo mozzarella, slow roasted pumpkin or cured kingfish.

Order up maple pecan Old Fashioned at this subterranean bar that channels old world glamour without an air of pretentiousness. You can also check out what's screening in the cinema if you want to catch a film as well.

Whether it’s the taxidermy, the caravan in the back courtyard, the gender-neutral toilets or the great weekly queer performances, there are plenty of first date ice breakers at this colourful Regent Street bar.

Fire! Plastic dinosaurs! Rum! All these drawcards make this bar a novel spot for a first date. The couches are comfy, the interiors are spiffy and many of the cocktails are a spectacle in their own right.

Keep things real casual at this ol' Chippo boozer. There's deep dish pizzas and plenty of beer on tap to aid your first date nerves, and things kick over into dancefloor mode later on if you feel like a sneaky DF smooch.

There’s no denying we live in a really ridiculously good looking city, and this glass-boxed rooftop bar makes the most of our good looks with 360-degree views of the harbour. It's also indoor and outdoor, so even if the weather's average, you can still take in the views.

Bondi has a bunch of great restaurants and average backpacker bars, but not many wine bars. Ode is the remedy to this problem, offering up natural wines and generous plates of pasta in an intimate setting.

We don’t need to tell you how much Sydney loves a rooftop bar, so impress your date at the top floor addition to the East Village Hotel (previously the Darlo Village), which is an A-grade, lofty drinking perch.

We don’t know about you, but we like a little retro-romance on date night, which is exactly why we’re into the idea of sharing a fancy toastie on a candle-lit table out in the enclosed laneway of this inner city bar.

It’s really hard to take things too seriously if your drink is blue, or full of crème de menthe, or packed with purple liquorice and shaded by a tiny umbrella. That’s the beauty of a drink at Big Poppa’s; they have the skills to master the classics and then get a bit silly with the drinks list.

This Pyrmont wine bar has hosted plenty of first dates within in its sandstone walls. It's a stone's throw from the city, but doesn't have the crowds most city bars have, making it a good option for your first date.

Feel like heading somewhere a little more local for your first date? This low-key bar is located in the leafy Lane Cove, and makes for an ideal first date spot for anyone living on the Lower North Shore.

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